The influence of Physics Education Research (PER) on teaching in schools is often rather limited. Design-Based-Research tries to overcome this often-criticised research-practice gap by developing and evaluating new approaches to teaching physics. Using a variety of qualitative and quantitative research methods and working closely with schools, design research strives to find evidence-based solutions to pressing educational problems. One such problem in physics education is that most students fail to correctly analyse electric circuits even after instruction as they tend to reason exclusively with current and resistance. Effective reasoning about electric circuits, however, requires a solid understanding of voltage and potential. At the example of the development and evaluation of an innovative curriculum to teach electricity based on the electron gas model, the presentation will give an introduction to Design-Based-Research in PER.
CERN Physics Education Research Team